The following week at school, Tabitha located me at lunch.

"Rose," she shrieked over the deafening cafeteria noise.

No one glanced her way, unphased by loud shouts at this point—this was public school after all. Though, I halted my conversation with Lily and looked up at the sound of my name.

"How are you friends with Tabitha?" Lily whispered in shock. "Everyone loves Tabitha!"

I almost laughed but managed to muster a straight face.

"Hey, Tabby," I said when she finally arrived.

"Hey, girl," she sat down beside me. "Didn't think you could get rid of me so soon, did you?"

"Of course not," I brightly smiled, glancing at Lily. "This is Tabitha. Tabitha, meet–"

"Lily," Tabitha finished for me. "We've met! I sit behind you in Chem."

Lily looked stunned that she even recognized her. "Yeah," she said.

"So, not that you're not welcome, but what brings you to our table?" I peered at Tabitha curiously.

Tabitha grimaced. "Any chance to get away from the popular table."

The three of us glanced in the direction of the table in the center of the cafeteria.

"You don't like sitting there?" asked Lily.

"Hell no," she quipped with no hesitance. "They're all so shallow. I only sit there because of my boyfriend, Benny."

"Speak of the devil..." I muttered in amusement.

Benny came strolling through the cafeteria doors and was making his way over to his girlfriend. He looked perplexed to see her sitting with us.

"Why are we sitting here?" he asked bitterly, plopping down next to her.

"No one forced you to come, grouch," she playfully teased.

He huffed like a baby though didn't object. I supposed he simply wanted to spend lunch without his girlfriend. Meanwhile, Tabby snatched off his backwards baseball hat and placed it onto her box braids.

"Where's your little boyfriend?" she teased him.

Benny frowned in confusion. "What boyfriend?"

And just before I could ask Tabby who she was talking about, Antonio slid over in the seat next to Benny. The two boys were practically attached at the hip.

"That boyfriend," Tabitha answered.

I snickered and Benny glared at me through slits.

"I'm not kidding," Tabitha said in amusement, glancing at Lily and me. "When I first moved to this school in freshman year, I thought the two of them were boyfriends. They're never seen apart, I swear. Did you know there's a photo of them having a bubble bath together?"

"Jeez!" Benny facepalmed, looking embarrassed. "We were babies."

"Where's the photo? I wanna see," I said giddily.

"Over my dead body," Antonio huffed.

"Not you too," Benny groaned at the same time.

Tabitha proudly outstretched a hand to high-five me, taking the boys' annoyance as a success. Lily giggled.

"Hey, speaking of boyfriends, what ever happened with you and Ethan?" Tabitha asked.

Antonio stiffened, and Benny's eyebrows furrowed in brotherly concern. I barely took note of their reactions.

"What do you mean?" I asked back.

"Don't play dumb. I saw you guys on that dance floor on Halloween," Lily shimmied suggestively.

"That was nothing. I haven't seen him since."

"Aw," Tabitha looked disappointed. "So nothing else happened between you?"

"Nope. We just danced for a bit, that's all. I didn't even remember him until you brought it up," I inconspicuously glanced at Antonio, gauging his reaction to my words. A pleased look flashed across his face, but it was so fleeting I wasn't sure I saw it.

"Good. The guy's a douche," Benny said. "You're better off without him."

"Isn't he your friend?" Lily asked.

"Nope," he shook his head. "The only friends I have are right here at this table."

"Aww, look at you being all protective and brotherly," I grinned. "Brother Benny!"

"Not another nickname," he said in distaste, glaring at me.

"Y'know what's more fitting? Bitchy Benny," Tabitha's eyes lit up as she giggled.

"Traitor! I'm taking this back."

He snatched his baseball cap, which Tabitha had stolen from him, off of her head.

"No, I want to wear it," she childishly whined, taking it back.

"It looks better on me and you know it."

The couple bickered back and forth. Antonio, Lily and I shared amused looks. In the midst of the petty argument, I excused myself to go to the washroom. They waved off my departure.

The walk to the bathroom was quick. The exit? Not so much.

I did my business and walked out of the stall before washing my hands. Two girls had been hogging the mirror up front, aimlessly chattering and applying makeup. Their conversation immediately halted when they noticed me. Awkward.

I didn't think much of it and began to make my way to the door, when suddenly, the girl on the left harshly collided into me.

"Watch it, slut," she sneered at me, flipping back her short black hair.

I was momentarily stunned.

"What'd you just call me?" I asked incredulously.

I'd seen the girl around and quickly put a name to the face.

"Kimmy Stevens," Lily's voice floated into my head from a couple weeks prior. "Beth's second-in-command. She's so desperate for attention it makes me sick."

When she wasn't mocking or bullying other girls, I could usually find her flirting with Antonio. I'd seen her sitting next to him at lunch. She was the type to laugh extra loudly at his jokes and suggestively point her chest in his direction. I hardly cared–these were merely details I happened to notice within my short time at this school. She was quite a pretty girl. It was a shame her personality wasn't.

Anyways, Kimmy faltered back at my question. She likely hadn't expected me to actually say anything.

"She called you a slut," her friend boldly took over, stepping in front of me.

The short blonde was Beth herself, clumpy mascara and all. She was adorned in a pink crop top and denim shorts that showed her cheeks—not the ones on your face. Who wears shorts in the middle of November? I glanced down at my hoodie and sweatpants, taking note of the stark contrast.

"How am I a slut?" I demanded after rounding up my thoughts.

Although I tended to be nice, I definitely wasn't a pushover.

"Oh please, don't play innocent. We've seen you with Antonio–sneaking off with him at parties, talking to him in class, and now stealing him at lunch. You even wore his jacket to school!" Beth scowled.

I remembered the day I had unintentionally worn Antonio's leather jacket to school, over two months ago. How could Beth possibly remember such a miniscule detail?

"You're new to this school, so I'll let you off with a warning," she falsely smiled. "Stay away from Antonio or we're gonna have a problem."

I sighed in irritation and switched my attention to my nails, briefly wondering what color I'd paint them over the weekend. The blue was already chipping away. Perhaps a bold red would be nice, to match the Autumn leaves.

"Hello?" Kimmy stomped her foot, her face reddening at the fact that I was ignoring them.

"Oh, you're done? Good!" I smiled. "Let's get one thing straight. I don't care what you want with Antonio, but leave me out of it, because trust me when I say I have zero interest in the guy. Just because I talk to someone doesn't automatically mean I want them. Now get that through your thick skulls instead of calling me a slut."

I brushed past their shoulders.

"A-Antonio doesn't see anything in you!" Kimmy stammered after me.

"Then why do you feel so threatened?" I asked in amusement. "I get that I'm pretty, but does it really bother you that much?"

"Pretty or not, doesn't change the fact that you're still a slut."

"Coming from the two best friends pining after the same guy. Take a good look at each other, 'cause that's your real competition," I laughed.

Kimmy gawked at me, her face flushing in embarrassment. Though, blondie wasn't as quick to back down.

"Deny it all you want, but we both know the truth. Buzz told us how easy you were."

The last sentence made me freeze in step and turn cold. Beth maliciously grinned, seeing that the sentence got to me.

"You might wanna stop smiling, Beth. There's spinach stuck in your teeth," I blandly stated.

The smug look was wiped off her face. With that, I sauntered out of the washroom.

Her words echoed in my head even after I left–Buzz told us how easy you were. It admittedly irked me, but I had never done anything with Buzz. As long as I knew that, I wasn't going to lose my sense of self.

I wasn't at all intimidated by the confrontation. After spending my whole life moving around to different schools, I'd encountered my fair share of mean girls. Frankly, I pitied them. They were even weaker than the girls they picked on. It was their own insecurities and miseries that they were taking out on others.

As I walked back to the cafeteria, another thought plagued me. If those were the type of girls that Antonio associated with, then what did that say about him?

• • •